Connecter and stretcher for fence sections



July 10, 1934.

L. E. LAMBERT CONNECTER AND STRETCHER FOR FENCE SECTIONS Filed Aug. 3l

INVENTOR uf/ L www# ATTORNEY de `Patented July 10, 1934 CNNECTE AND STRETCHER FOR lFENCE SECTIONS 4 Claims.

This invention relates to fence Vapparatus and the primaryA object is to providek an enicient, practical, and novel" construction of device for joining fence sections, particularly of the woven wire 5 type, and of then adjusting or stretching such sections either beiore or after they have been secured throughout their lengths to the previously arranged and regularly spaced supporting posts. A further object is to provide a section connecter that will not only readily perform its tightening function, but vmay also be used to release the `wire tension particularly in cold weather, and is also designed for accommodating irregularities such as occur when the fence is extended over hills or into valleys under which conditions the section ends do not normally meet in a regular way, and therefore present certain vdifficulties in joining, stretching, and otherwise adjusting, particularly where woven wire is employed. A further object is to provide a connecting and stretching device that is formed with rounder cylindrical members about which the fence wires are secured, and thus presenting wire engaging surfaces that will haveno cutting or shearing engagement with the wire, thus elimmating-*serious objections such as found in fence structures wherein the wire is threaded through punched or drilled holes or engaged with other sharp angles, or edges tending to sever the tightly stretched wire parts. These and still other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosedin the course of the following specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,

y wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan elevation showing my improved device in operative position between two adjoining woven wire fence sections.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional detail View on the line 2-2 in Fig. l.

' Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view through one of the vertical connecter bars at the point where the same is attached to the threaded cross bar or connecting bolt.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail perspective eleva- A.45' tion showing one of the fence wire retaining 50 in the usual way of horizontally disposed line wires 5, and vertically disposed stay wires 6 which are secured to and connect the line wires 5 in the conventional manner well known in the art.

The apparatus which I employ to connect the adjacent ends of the fence sections A and B includes a pair of vertically disposed pipes vor hollow bars '7 and 8 adjustably connected by a series of vertically spaced, horizontally extending bolts or threaded rods 9. The vertical bars 7 and 8 are made of round or tubular material for several reasons, one of which is that they can be made from conventional pipe stock or round bar stock, thus eliminating the necessity for using any specially designed material. A further reason for using pipe stock is that it has greater lstrength and rigidity than any other material having the same o'r less cross sectional area. A third and most important reason for using round stock material in the bars 7 and 8 is that the fence wire can be wrapped around the entire bar, as shownV in' Figs. l and 2, and when Yso secured will have a maximum and most eiicient bearing contact in VView of the fact that it is unnecessary to drill or punch holes in the bars, and when the wire is secured around the bars, as shown, it will not come in contact with sharp edges of any nature, kand consequently eliminates much'of the Vshearing and cutting action invariably produced when the wire is secured in drilled or `punched' holes or when it is wrapped around a bar having angles or Vedges to come in Contact with the wire.

It will be notedwith particular Vreference to Fig. 3, that the holes in the bars '7 and 8 for accommodating the bolts 9 are of two sizes. The

louter hole'lO being justsufliciently large to 'snugly accommodate the bolt 9,"while 'the inner hole 11 is considerably larger than the hole 10 so as to permit variations in the angle between the memy bers 7 and 9 without twisting or bending the bolts. Thus when the bars are moved, for instance to the dotted line positions indicated in Figs. l and 3, they will not bind against the bolts 9 and the latter will be free to move under the adjustment action of the nuts 9a as circumstances may require. The purpose of the bars 9 and nuts 9a is of course to permanently connect the vertical bars 7 and 8 as an integral part of the complete fence, and t0 draw them up so as to secure the necessary tightening or stretching pull on the line wires 5.

Where one fence section or the other is stretched over a knoll or hill, or on the other hand traverses a hollow or Valley-like depression, it will of course be obvious that the fence section ends will not meet squarely as they would when the fence is being set up on level ground; and consequently the stay wires 6 at the adjoining ends of adjacent sections will not be parallel, and would therefore under other circumstances present certain diculties in completing the fence section. This, however, has been overcome in the present instance by arranging the pipes or tubular bars 7 and 8 parallel with the stay wires of the respective fence sections A and B to which they are connected, and then drawing up the bolts 9 so as to bring more closely together either the lower or upper ends of the bars 7 and 8, as circumstances may require.

Thus, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the upper ends of the bars 7 and 8 may be drawn closer together than the lower ends, and this condition may of course be reversed under reversed circumstances.

In view of the fact that the line wires 5 are secured by being brought or wound entirely about the bars 7 and 3, it is of course unnecessary to perforate the latter or to provide them with other devices for securing the ends of these line wire strands, On the other hand, with the wires attached as shown there will of course be some tendency for them to slip up or down on the bars, particularly when the bars are disposed at angles with respect to each other, and this tendency is oiset or counteracted by the use of hook devices such as shown in Fig. 4. These devices are placed upon the upper and lower bolts 9 of the connecting mechanism, and consist of arcuately curved plates l2 which fit snugly upon the bars 7 and 8 and are perforated as at 13 to receive said bolts 9. rhe plates 12 are each provided at one end with an integral hook le, and the plates at the upper end of the mechanism are arranged so that the hooks 14 will be positioned below the bolt 9 while the hooks 14 of the plates 12 at the lower end of the mechanism will be disposed above the bolt 9 by which they are secured.

It will now be seen that by securing the loops of the top and bottom line wires 5 in these hooks 14, the fence sections proper will be stretched or at least maintained in their proper vertical positions, and it will be impossible for any of the line wires to slip either up or down on the bars 7 and 8. The hook members 12-14 will of course in no way affect the functioning or operation of the tightening bolts 9. And while similar hooked devices might be employed on intermediate bolts, I believe it unnecessary to provide them on any except the bolts'at the top and bottom of each connecter unit.

It is understood that still other modications may be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A connecter and stretcher for a pair of adjacent woven wire fence sections, comprising a pair of spaced tubular upright members about which line wires of said fence sections are secured, and threaded bolts extending through said upright members to connect them together and for stretching the fence sections, said members each having pairs of holes for accommodating opposite ends of the respective bolts, with one hole of each pair larger than the other to permit angular positioning of the members with respect to each other without binding on or bending the bolts.

2. A connecter and stretcher for a pair of adjacent woven wire fence sections, comprising a pair of spaced tubular upright members about which line'wires of said fence sections are secured, and threaded bolts extending through said upright members to connect them together and for stretching the fence sections, said upright members having means at upper and lower ends and secured by said bolts for engaging upper and lower Wires or" the fence sections to prevent slipping or the fence sections on the members.

3. A connecter and stretcher for a pair oi adjacent w'oven wire fence sections, comprising a pair of spaced tubular upright members about which line wires of said fence sections are secured, and threaded bolts extending through said upright members to connect them together and ior stretching the fence sections, said upf right members having means at upper and lower ends for engaging upper and lower wires of the fence sections to prevent slipping of the fence sections on the members, said means comprising hooks secured in place by the connecter bolts.

4. A connecter and stretcher for a pair of adjacent woven wire fence sections, comprising a pair of spaced tubular upright members about which line wires of said fence sections are secured, spaced horizontally disposed bolts adjustably connecting the members, and retaining devices secured by said bolts adjacent upper and lower ends of the upright members for engaging upper and lower line wires of the fence sections to prevent slipping of fence line wires on the members.

LUELL E. LAMBERT.

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